Boca Drowning Ruled An Accident

Man Discovered In Lake Near Home

BOCA RATON — A 79-year-old man whose body was found floating in Lake Boca Raton on Monday morning died from an accidental drowning, police said.

Howard Paschburg was found floating in the Intracoastal Waterway about a half-mile from the apartment he had rented on Spanish Trail.

Neighbors said Paschburg and his wife had moved there a month ago and planned to stay three months.

About two weeks ago, Paschburg's wife, whose name was not available, was moved to a convalescent home.

"They were elderly, and they kept to themselves," Roger Miller Jr., a neighbor, said. "After his wife was taken away, he seemed despondent."

Police do not know how Paschburg landed in the lake, which was a short walk from his back door. Police spokesman Eric Lawrence said there were no signs of foul play and nothing was disturbed or missing from Paschburg's apartment.

Paschburg was last seen Sunday night by his son and daughter, who dropped him off at his apartment about midnight, police said. They all planned to visit Paschburg's wife in the convalescent home on Monday, police said.

Paschburg's children became worried about 7:30 a.m. when they phoned his apartment and got no answer.

About 30 minutes later, Douglas Smith, a boater from Naples, told the U.S. Coast Guard he spotted a body in the water.

Paschburg's children could not be reached for comment.

It was at least the fifth drowning in the county this year.

This year's other drownings include:

-- A 78-year-old woman who tumbled down a steep embankment and into a canal while taking a walk at her son's house in Boca del Mar;

-- A 37-year-old woman who drowned after falling from her wheelchair and into the pool at her family's home west of Lake Worth;

-- A 30-year-old man who suffered from seizures fell out of his boat in the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach.

-- A 15-year-old boy drowned in Royal Palm Beach on Jan. 12 after losing his grip on a rope from which he was swinging over a canal.